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“I won’t be long.” Without waiting for another reply, he settled beside me, hands folded in his lap. “I just need to tell you a few things. So you’ll understand.”
“I understand we made an agreement, and it was very fair, really. Nobody could complain about what you all offered. Almost any woman would be very lucky to be in my position.”
“I want to tell you about my life, if you want to listen?”
“Of course.” I wanted to hide the duffel, since he didn’t seem to have noticed it yet. Although I was most likely leaving, I wanted to tell them in an up-front way. But I also wanted to hear what he had to say. While Saber and Draven seemed very level in their emotions, Menace had that edge I’d seen in people who had some sort of trauma in their life. And I knew a little, but they had said it was his story to tell. “Thank you for being willing to share that with me.” They came from the same rage, so the others likely knew the story, just like we’d all known which kids came to school with shadows under their eyes or bruises from a less-than-healthy homelife.
“We are all warriors to some extent, but my family was more so. From the time I could walk, I was in training. Learning to carry weapons almost bigger than me and how to use them. The hunters were a constant threat to our people, and I was in battleso young…I’m not even sure how old I was. But too young. I’d never allow one of our children to do that. My brother was even younger when he…when they…”
This man who was so brave couldn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. “That must have been horrible.”
“I killed all of them. Our father found me chopping the hunters to bits, but it was too late to save him. My brother. They’d ambushed us, and it was all my fault. I should have noticed something.”
He’d been a little boy, out with an even littler boy to fight full-grown attackers, and he had been blaming himself all these years? My eyes filled with tears, my chest aching for him.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was. My father said—”
“Your father was wrong. I know orcs are different in some ways than humans, but after just a short time, I know that it’s your nature to protect.”
“Yes…”
“And you were a child.” I wanted to cut people to bits, too, starting with those who should have protected those children. What was the point of fighting off attackers if not to keep them safe until they grew up and had the strength and ability to defend themselves. “You offered me just the things you didn’t get.”
“My parents were killed by hunters when I was a teenager. Along with others in the rage.”
I threw myself into his arms, wanting to connect in a way that would make him feel better. When his lips crashed down on mine, I knew it was the right move. Maybe it wouldn’t fix anything, but I could give him my body. He already had my heart, even if he didn’t know it. They all had it.
We tore each other’s clothes off in a frenzy, kissing and touching and inflaming each other until we were both pantingand pouring sweat. Then he picked me up and tossed me onto the mattress, the duffel falling to the floor to my great relief.
There was no question of whether I was ready for him. When he thrust inside me, I was so wet, he slid all the way home. Still a tight fit, but insanely good. He was rough. And I loved it. Wrapping his arms around me, he rose on his knees, bringing me with him, and proceeded to lift and lower me onto his hard rod over and over until I came, sobbing, and he poured his cum inside me. It was so good, and I only loved him more for it. Leaving was going to kill me. But staying without their loving me back? That would kill me, too.
He flopped onto his back and brought me to lie full-length on top of him, stroking my back with long, firm, gentle strokes.
“That was incredible.”
“But it’s not enough for you. You want the fairy tale.” He reached over the side of the bed and pulled out the duffel. “And you can’t stay without it.”
“I-I…” had nothing to say. It was true. Stay without love or go for lack of it. I’d never love anyone else. What I felt for these orcs was too extraordinary to ever experience again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Menace
“I love you, you know that?” I looked down at my mate’s beautiful face, flushed with the aftermath of orgasm. Her breaths were ragged but slowing while a smile began to take shape on her face.
“You love me?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
This woman. This sweet, loving, brave woman. “You’re my mate. Brought to us by the weaving of Fate. Of course, I’m sure. I love you with everything I am.”
Ilya bit down on her bottom lip. She made no move to get up or get her clothing. Instead, she rolled over and pressed her face into my chest and sighed. Her breaths tickled my skin as I took in the sheen that covered her skin. I almost asked if she was okay when she looked up at me, stilling all thoughts with those deep brown eyes of hers. “I love you, too, Menace. I think it started when you carried me the night I got here.”
“Say it again,” I demanded, rolling her to her back again so I could hover over her body. I wanted to watch her face as she told me. Soak in every second I could.
“I love you, Menace, you grumpy orc.” I could hear that a thousand times and never tire of it.
“Can we come in now?” I turned to see Saber and Draven standing in the doorway. Ilya made no move to cover up, and my chest swelled knowing that she was comfortable with us now, even after we’d acted like jackasses. It wouldn’t be the last time.
